SKEPTIC

Print subscriptions & back issues

Print subscriptions

Stephen Jay Gould called Skeptic magazine “The best journal in the field.” The definitive skeptical journal, Skeptic magazine makes a perfect gift that lasts all year (we publish 4 issues, 1 approximately every 3 months). Promoting science and critical thinking, our in-depth articles explore and inform. As the leading international publication in the realm of skeptical inquiry, it serves as an educational tool for those seeking a sound scientific viewpoint. Buy it. Read it. Share it. Help us make the world a more rational place by defending the role of science in society! Subscribe to the print edition now.

Back issues

Skeptic magazine examines extraordinary claims, and serves as an educational tool for those seeking a sound scientific viewpoint. Don’t miss this opportunity to complete your collection by getting the back issues you’re missing in your library. Order a back issue for a friend and introduce them to skepticism! Some back issues have completely sold out in print format and will not be printed again. Most of our back issues are available in digital format via PocketMags.com (currently not on sale).

JUNIOR SKEPTIC

Download issues in PDF format

$1.99 ea.

Created in 1998 by Skeptics Society co-founders Pat Linse and Michael Shermer, and helmed since 2002 by national award-winning children’s science book author Daniel Loxton, Junior Skeptic boasts lively illustrations, in-depth ideas, and deep research. Each 10-page story offers a simple but thorough primer on a fringe claim, scientific mystery, or critical thinking theme, all told in Junior Skeptic’s engaging, easygoing signature style.

Junior Skeptic 58: Haunted Houses

In this issue of Junior Skeptic, we’ll summon our courage, light a candle, and venture inside the ancient horror of haunted houses. Imagine walking dark hallways, peering into abandoned rooms. We strain to recognize unfamiliar shapes in the shadows. A cold draft stirs the cobwebs; outside, wind moans through the trees. We climb creaking stairs up into the unknown. Ahead of us, we — wait, did you hear something? Were those…footsteps? Our skin prickles with fear and tension. Breathless, trembling, we call into the darkness, “Is somebody there?” Let’s find out!

Junior Skeptic 6: Halloween

In this issue of Junior Skeptic, Pat Linse looks at what’s behind Halloween traditions, and what purpose ghosts serve. Learn some tricks psychics use when they seem to talk to the dead and how to detect ghostly fingerprints. How does Halloween fun help us learn to deal with fear? Let’s find out!

Junior Skeptic 37: Top 10 Busted Myths

Welcome to a whirlwind tour of busted paranormal myths! In this issue of Junior Skeptic, we’ll review a few topics from previous issues, and take a peek at some we’ll explore in greater detail in the future. For now, I hope you’ll enjoy the ride: 10 myths in 10 pages! From Roswell to homeopathy, dowsing to ghost orb photography, this issue explores some of the worst paranormal cases of all time!

Junior Skeptic 67: Perpetual Motion

In this issue of Junior Skeptic, we’d like you to imagine two impossible, magical machines: The first machine runs forever. You may picture a complex tangle of gears and wheels, or something as simple as a spinning top, but imagine that it never runs down—once started it just keeps going without ever needing more energy. Now imagine a second machine. This one may require fuel or energy to run, but somehow, through some fantastic process, it generates more energy than it consumes. We aren’t the first to imagine these two types of “perpetual motion” machines. Inventors have dreamed of such devices for centuries. How has their search unfolded? Let’s find out!

Junior Skeptic 63: Chemtrails

We’ve all heard the story of Chicken Little—a fanciful tale about panic and jumping to conclusions (“The sky is falling!”). But how would it feel to truly believe that the sky is out to get you? For believers in one strange conspiracy theory, it’s scary to see a blue sky crossed by wispy white contrail lines from passing jet planes. They claim some of those contrails are not clouds or exhaust from jet engines as they appear, but sinister “chemtrails.” Supposedly, an evil government conspiracy uses jet planes to secretly spread poison across skies worldwide. Is there any possibility this paranoid claim could be true? Let’s find out!

Junior Skeptic 36: Cottingley Fairies

In this issue of Junior Skeptic, guest writers Jillian Baker and Jason Loxton had a lot of fun researching one of history’s most unusual stories about fairies. Like many fairy tales, it’s a story with some lessons to teach. One is that it’s foolish to underestimate kids. Another is that you shouldn’t believe everything you see! How did two girls fool the world’s greatest writer of detective stories? Let’s find out!

In addition to those above, there are seven more Junior Skeptic issues currently available in PDF format. We will announce more Junior Skeptic PDFs for sale in the coming months. Or, check our online store periodically for new additions!

SMART READS

On baloney detection, climate change, and debating creationists

The Baloney Detection Kit

Designed to hone your critical thinking skills, includes suggestions on what questions to ask, what traps to avoid, specific examples of how the scientific method is used to test pseudoscience and paranormal claims, 25 fallacies of thinking, a list of highly-recommended skeptical books, a how-to guide for developing a class in critical thinking, and more… This booklet has 16 pages.

A Skeptic’s Guide to Global Climate Change

Distinguish climate change skepticism from climate change denialism; get 25 answers to classic climate denier arguments; examine a summary of the scientific evidence and climate data and discover what’s behind the debate on climate change; find out why scientists think climate is changing and how we know global warming is real and human caused. This booklet has 28 pages.

How to Debate a Creationist

Perfect for anyone who wants to know how to converse with a creationist. It contains 25 creationist arguments and 25 evolutionist answers (some philosophical and some scientific); describes what the theory of evolution is and isn’t and explains why creationism is not science; provides an in-depth understanding of Intelligent Design, its pitfalls and logical fallacies, and much more. This booklet has 28 pages.

WINNER OF TWO AWARDS

Evolution: How We & All Living Things Came to Be

Can something as complex and wondrous as the natural world be explained by a simple theory? The answer is yes, and now Evolution explains how in a way that makes it easy to understand. Based on the acclaimed articles from Junior Skeptic (Skeptic magazine’s science magazine for kids), and combining lavish illustrations, breezy prose, and deep science, this spectacularly illustrated introduction to the theory of evolution (written for ages 8–13) takes us from Charles Darwin to modern-day science. Along the way, Evolution answers common questions (and clears up misunderstandings) that sometimes confuse people about the history of life on Earth. This book has been applauded by expert reviewers including the National Science Teachers Association, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and the National Center for Science Education.

THE MAGIC OF REALITY

How Do We Know What’s Really True?

For years people have wanted the renowned evolutionary biologist to write a book for kids on evolution. He has done that — and much more — with this highly engaging and well-illustrated work that will also enlighten adults who read it. Filled with clever thought experiments and jaw-dropping facts, The Magic of Reality explains a stunningly wide range of natural phenomena. This is a page-turning detective story that not only mines all the sciences for its clues but primes the reader to think like a scientist as well.

WINNER: BEST BOOK FOR KIDS

Ankylosaur Attack

This mind-blowing feast for the eye depicts photorealistic CGI dinosaurs in their natural environment. A young ankylosaur (a plant-eating, heavy-plated dinosaur) living along the lush banks of a lake encounters an old ankylosaur. Gently, he endeavors to make contact, only to be rebuffed. Then a T. rex attacks, and old dinosaur is in grave danger. Will the T. rex triumph? It looks that way, until the young ankylosaur comes to the rescue, tail club swinging. This is book one in the Tales of Prehistoric Life series. Dramatic stories + eye-popping visuals = a surefire hit with young dinosaur lovers.

“Even by current high standards, the full-spread art is uncommonly photorealistic.” —Kirkus Reviews

WINNER: CHILDREN’S BOOK PRIZE

Pterosaur Trouble

This science-informed followup to Ankylosaur Attack tells a dramatic paleofiction tale of perhaps the largest flying animal ever to exist—the mighty pterosaur Quetzalcoatlus. While stalking a riverside for breakfast, the giraffe-sized pterosaur finds himself on the menu for a pack of small but ravenous feathered Velociraptor-like dinosaurs called Saurornitholestes. Can the giant escape from his Lilliputian assailants? Inspired by real-world fossil discoveries, this photorealistic adventure will delight and astonish.

FINALIST: LANE ANDERSON BOOK PRIZE

Plesiosaur Peril

A group of plesiosaurs—ocean-dwelling cousins of the dinosaurs—keeps safe by swimming in a family pod. But then a baby plesiosaur swims too far from its mother, attracting the attention of something very large and hungry. The struggle for survival is on! A unique blend of digital artwork and landscape photography illustrates this thrilling encounter. This is the third and final book in the Tales of Prehistoric Life series, and a Finalist for the Lane Anderson Award for Best Science Book for Young Readers in 2014.

“It is apparent from the accurate appearance of the plesiosaurs that they were thoroughly researched. …the same is true for other prehistoric creatures… ichthyosaurs, ammonites, belemnites…. They are the best I’ve seen in any book of this kind. …this is a lovely and visually striking book that makes the perfect bedtime story for any child…” —Dr. Adam S. Smith, The Plesiosaur Directory

Award for the book

Finalist: Lane Anderson Award for the Canadian Science Book Prize (2014)

GIVE A LITTLE BIT MORE

Give 101% via PayPal Giving Fund

Donate this holiday season and make your gift go even further. From now through December 31, PayPal Giving Fund will add 1% to all donations. 101% of your donation will be forwarded to the Skeptics Society when you donate via paypal.com/us/fundraiser/charity/112338.

NEW PAPERBACK (AUTOGRAPHED) AVAILABLE JANUARY 8, 2019

Heavens on Earth: The Scientific Search for the Afterlife, Immortality, and Utopia

$15.92

Heavens on Earth is a scientific exploration into humanity’s obsession with the afterlife and quest for immortality from the bestselling author and skeptic Michael Shermer. In his most ambitious work yet, Shermer sets out to discover what drives humans’ belief in life after death, focusing on recent scientific attempts to achieve immortality along with utopian attempts to create heaven on earth.

For millennia, religions have concocted numerous manifestations of heaven and the afterlife, and though no one has ever returned from such a place to report what it is really like—or that it even exists—today science and technology are being used to try to make it happen in our lifetime. From radical life extension to cryonic suspension to mind uploading, Shermer considers how realistic these attempts are from a proper skeptical perspective.

Praise for the book

This book’s theme is the one of greatest practical importance to all of us: does some heaven or afterlife await us after we die? Most Americans, and even many atheists, believe that the answer is ‘yes.’ If there is no heaven, how can we find purpose in life? Michael Shermer explores these big questions with the delightful, powerful style that made his previous books so successful—but this is his best book. —Jared Diamond

Michael Shermer is a beacon of reason in an ocean of irrationality. —Neil deGrasse Tyson

Thank goodness for Michael Shermer’s sound and inspired mindfulness and for this importantly useful volume. Truly a delicious read. Ten Goldblums out of a possible ten Goldblums! —Jeff Goldblum

Heavens on Earth is absolutely brilliant, filled with profundity, startling facts, and mind-expanding ideas. Michael Shermer somehow manages to be entertaining and scientifically erudite at the same time. He also brings some of history’s greatest thinkers to life and makes their ideas accessible. This is one of the most fascinating books I’ve read in a long time. —Amy Chua

Also by Michael Shermer

Why People Believe Weird Things

In this age of supposed scientific enlightenment, many people still believe in mind reading, past-life regression theory, New Age hokum, and alien abduction. This book is a no-holds-barred assault on popular superstitions and prejudices, debunking these nonsensical claims and exploring the very human reasons people find otherworldly phenomena, conspiracy theories, and cults so appealing. Why People Believe Weird Things is an eye-opening resource for the most gullible among us and those who want to protect them.

The Soul of Science

In this 35-page, 3.5" × 5.5", pocket-sized book, Michael Shermer asks “Can we find spiritual meaning and purpose in a scientific worldview?” Spirituality is a way of being in the world, a sense of one’s place in the cosmos, a relationship to that which extends beyond ourselves. There are many sources of spirituality; religion may be the most common, but it is by no means the only. Anything that generates a sense of awe may be a source of spirituality. Science does this in spades.

STICK IT TO ’EM

Skeptic Lapel Pin

$10

We’d like to see this lapel pin become world-famous, and we need your help to make that happen! Every skeptic (and his/her best friends) should have one of these lapel pins. They feature elegant gold-colored SKEPTIC letters, with a contrasting black background. They’re a great size for a lapel or tie-tack — about 25mm × 6mm (1" × .25"). The pin comes in a classy little plastic box suitable for gift-giving. At this price, why not get one for every jacket you own!

AMERICAN APPAREL

Unisex Short Sleeve T-Shirts

$18

Made of 100% fine jersey knit cotton, ring-spun and combed for superior softness and strength. Our unisex fine jersey short sleeve T-shirts, by American Apparel, are the softest, smoothest, best-looking T-shirts available anywhere. If you are not familiar with how American Apparel fits, refer to the sizing chart before placing your order. If you don’t like a snug fit, we suggest ordering a size larger than you would normally order from other manufacturers.

eGIFT CERTIFICATES

Take the guess work out of giving

If you’re not sure what to get your favourite skeptic, then why not give a Skeptic eGift Certificate and he/she can redeem it on anything we sell at shop.skeptic.com. eGift Certificates are available in amounts from $10 to $250.

WE NEED YOUR SUPPORT

Help us promote science & reason worldwide

2018 was another banner year for your Skeptics Society, as we energized our efforts to promote science, skepticism, and critical thinking by celebrating our 25th anniversary in 2017 with a spectacular event in New York City. Thanks to your continuing support we are looking forward to 2019 and are pleased to report on what we have been doing with your donations the past year.

Ways to make your tax deductible donations

You can make a donation online using your credit card, or by calling 1-626-794-3119. You may also mail us a cheque along with your completed printable donation form. The Skeptics Society is registered US 501(c)(3) nonprofit educational organization. Your donations are tax deductible.